The federal government said Friday that Connecticut “shortchanges low-income, minority students.” The U.S. Department of Education released data showing that Connecticut school districts with high concentrations of students from low-income families spend 8.7 percent less for each student than their most affluent neighbors.
K-12
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut charter schools — a good idea gone awry
When confronted with the fact that the unwarranted expansion of charter schools is diverting sorely needs funds away from neighborhood public schools, Connecticut voters are clear in their response: cease and desist.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Connecticut charter schools — a good idea gone awry
When confronted with the fact that the unwarranted expansion of charter schools is diverting sorely needs funds away from neighborhood public schools, Connecticut voters are clear in their response: cease and desist.
Posted inEducation
Number of Connecticut kindergarten suspensions rising
The number of kindergarten students suspended from school for misbehaving is on the rise, the Connecticut Department of Education reported Wednesday. Minority children make up three-quarters of the suspensions, the department said, and charter school students are suspended twice as often as those in the public school districts where they are located.
Posted inEducation
Many vie to become state’s next education chief
Almost two dozen candidates have applied to become Connecticut’s next education commissioner. Members of the State Board of Education and the governor’s staff plan to interview six people over the next couple of weeks. “I thought we got a very strong field,” said Allan B. Taylor, chair of the State Board of Education. “It would […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
CT school funding overpays wealthy towns, underpays needier, critics say
It seems like a reasonable standard: No town shall receive less state money to help run its schools than it did in the previous year. But in practice this means several Connecticut school districts in the wealthiest towns — towns that have fewer high-need students — are receiving more money from the state than they would otherwise be entitled to while needier districts get less.
Posted inEducation
Now, measure your child’s school on more than just test scores
Grading schools based on test scores is all the rage these days. But today, with the release of Your School, The Connecticut Mirror is providing a broad collection of other measures parents can use to judge their child’s school.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Esty wins on STEM bill
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday easily approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, that would promote the teaching of science, technology, engineering, or STEM, disciplines in the nation’s schools.
Posted inEducation
$20M agreement will expand school choice to desegregate Hartford schools
State officials agreed Monday to offer 1,325 more children living in Hartford seats in existing magnet or suburban public schools next school year. The agreement is the latest result of an 18-year-old Connecticut Supreme Court decision that ordered the state to eliminate the educational inequities caused by the capital city’s segregated schools.
Posted inEducation
State teachers’ union: Eliminate Common Core standardized tests
The state’s largest teachers’ union is calling on Connecticut lawmakers to end the requirement that students take a statewide standardized test each spring.
Posted inEducation
Higher education cut, local school aid flat in Malloy budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget proposal cuts support for the state’s public colleges and universities, provides level funding for state aid to school districts, offers financial aid to undocumented students, and would fund four new charter schools.
Posted inEducation
State aiming to hobble school funding lawsuit
Attorneys defending the state against a class-action school-funding lawsuit believe the coalition suing the state should be removed as a plaintiff, effectively diminishing the significance of the case.
Posted inEducation, Money
Panel: Empower towns to raise revenue, control special ed costs
Expanding municipal taxation options, encouraging communities to share costs regionally and reforming special education topped House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey’s new plan Thursday to bolster local and state budgets.
Posted inEducation
Watchdog troubled by restraint, seclusion of special ed students
Utility and storage closets and “cell-like spaces” are some of the places students with autism and other special education needs are inappropriately put when they misbehave, according to an investigative report released Wednesday by the Office of the Child Advocate.
Posted inEducation
State education officials anticipate more school districts will merge
With enrollment declining in many schools across the state, several members of the State Board of Education predict they will soon see more requests from local districts to combine into a regional school district. On Wednesday, the board got just such a request.